It sounds like maybe the teacher carries an ipod and one screen allows them to access any kid in the class as they circuate through the room.

Yah, Sharnitan this is exactly how I pictured it too. Which means it's really, really easy to make the "checks" or whatever as you go, whereas taking the time to sit down, get paper and a pen, write a note, give the kid the note, and hope the kids gets the note to mom seems infinitely harder.

My idea of a note though is something written down on their homework journal (which is the size of a full size notebook). There is a spot for parents to write to the teacher and the teacher does collect them each day to make sure they are signed (it is a behavior chart thing) and check for notes..that is what she told us at least. It is kind of disconcerting to think of her walking around with an ipad making pluses and minuses on everything all the kids do...I know they are expected to keep track of information, but it just seems, I don't know, Big Brotherish for that amount of monitoring when they also have behavioral cards in the class. I am not afraid of technology as my computer seems to be an extension of me anymore, but sometimes some of the things seem unnecessary and again, my personal feelings are that only I can decide when my minor child's information gets put out there. This is not done anonymously either as each child has their own page, where as for data collecting purposes go it is usually just done by groupings..age, race, gender.

I have no quarrels with you not wanting your kids name on an unfamiliar website if that's what you want. But, again, that's something for the principal or the district head, not the teacher. It's not the teacher's fault that they are required to constantly make notes and monitor. If you think it's too "big-brotherish" then go tell the big brother (I.e., the person who is making the teacher do this).

And the point I'm making about the note isn't that the note is impossible, but that it's way harder than what she's doing because if she's going to write the note in real-time, she needs to go dig out your specific kid's homework folder to do it or remember to do it later when she's going through the folders. Unless you want her to carry your kid's homework folder around with her tablet. That's what I mean about special accomodations being a bit of a nuisance for one person but becomes nearly impossible for several.

I don't get how writing a note is harder? If she can't remember (and going on the idea that she's carrying around an iPad or tablet with her), she can make herself a quick note while keeping an eye on the kids. And then, when there is downtime, she can do the digging and all.

OP, I do agree that you might need to go to the principal instead of the teacher about the website. It does seem more like it's a decision from above rather than the teacher doing something on her own.

Based on my understanding of lower elementary and the current trends of education in general - there is no down time. Down time is a sign of a bad teacher. If they observe a teacher with time to make notes in kids folders during the school day, that teacher is doing something wrong. carrying an ipad and entering data as you interact with the kids at the same time is OK but there should be no down time.

And forget the principal, OP indicated this was a district thing. Try the superintendent, maybe the board of ed. This was their decision. And if you think that education is too "Big Brother-'y" then contact your state board of education, your governor, your federal government, etc. Of course, none of those people have taught a day in their life so their theories on what should happen, how it should happen, etc. can be interesting.

This is what I was going to say. Most people just have no idea how true this is. If I appear to have down time, I'm just momentarily stunned by all of the things I still need to do, and need a moment to write them all down before I forget everything. I probably work at home at least 10-15 hours per week just to keep up, I am never ahead.

One thing I'm surprised wasn't mentioned....phone calls can not be made in front of any students due to privacy issues. I am in the physical presence of students from 9am to 5pm, excluding my 20 minute lunch break, during which I do need to actually eat lunch. So any phone calls must be made before 9 or after 5. I am also expected to personally notify parents of any grade below a "C", even though they have full access to my gradebook online. That's not considered good enough, because they might not be checking it. The only possible way to achieve this is to find 5 minutes here or 10 minutes there while my kids are testing or otherwise engaged to send a few emails. I will call after hours for a serious issue, but with over 100 students, many of them are going to be below a C at any moment. I can't make that many phone calls after hours all the time. I just can't.

Oh, and sometimes I'll just get to work 2 hours early and do ALL my emails. But I highly doubt parents want to be woken up by a ringing phone at 7am for a non emergency. Emails are non intrusive and don't require that both parties be available at the exact same time. I will schedule a phone call at a parent's request, or will call myself if it's serious, but otherwise I rely heavily on email.

We are not allowed to e-mail parents about anything covered by privacy laws (grades, behavior issues) because e-mail is not private. We have been told it is subject to the Open Records Act/Freedom of Information laws. SO if Joe Blow down the street decides we are wasting his money he can demand copies of our e-mails.

Please take that with a grain of salt. We have also been told we couldn't friend any student of our district under 18 - include teachers OWN children. Then it was we could and should be fired for friending anyone under 18. Then finally none of our staff should sign our contracts, instead we should all go apply at wal-mart. Glad he is someone else's problem now.

We are not allowed to e-mail parents about anything covered by privacy laws (grades, behavior issues) because e-mail is not private. We have been told it is subject to the Open Records Act/Freedom of Information laws. SO if Joe Blow down the street decides we are wasting his money he can demand copies of our e-mails.

We don't have that official rule that I know of, we are just told to be careful that we don't respond to emails about students if we don't know the source. But my parents supply their own contact info and when they do, they sign that I can email them to discuss their student's progress. The only time I've had parents not give an email address was because they didn't have one. At least that's what they told me, and I didn't question it further.

We are not allowed to e-mail parents about anything covered by privacy laws (grades, behavior issues) because e-mail is not private. We have been told it is subject to the Open Records Act/Freedom of Information laws. SO if Joe Blow down the street decides we are wasting his money he can demand copies of our e-mails.

Wow. My district has no such policy, which I appreciate since email is by far the easiest way to communicate with my son's teachers.

One thing I'm curious about is whether the parents have the teacher's home phone number - if the teacher is phoning kids outside of school hours, they could get their home number.

I'd absolutely hate that - they're at school all day, and are often doing prep work or marking in the evening or on weekends. Being on call outside of school hours for any parent who wants to phone and ask questions sounds horrible, particularly for what they tend to pay teachers.

Our teachers call before school , altho they do not get in officially til 8 30 at DD's school, or when the kids are at their 'special' (gym, library art, music). Again, with the load of work my DD brings home, I realize the teachers have a lot to do, but the teachers expect the parents to come to the school for conferences and school events during their work day and they really push for parental involvement when things are scheduled 9-5 so it is a balance of trying to accommodate everyone's schedule. Last year my DD's teacher would send emails during the day about an issue with DD (not behavior but important) but as I was not allowed to check personal e mails at work, I didn't get these until evening, usually after DD went to bed. I finally said she had to call me if it was imperative because if not, I wouldn't know until I checked my emails after the kids went to bed. If not, write a note in her homework folder and I would see it right when I got home.

I will be talking to someone on the school board (who I do know) and see if they are aware of this, if they are, why is it imperative, and why parents were not told. From the parents I have talked to, with kids in all 5 of our district schools, no one knew about this until the note came home with their kids info. Some of the parents are fine with it, some feel like me and a few said they weren't even bothering to look at it as they see enough on their kids district page to know if there are any problems.

And blarg, I did have one of my older DD's teacher's home number. She gave it to the parents and said we could call her up to 9 pm if we had any questions because she knew that with work sometimes daytime conferences were not possible. This teacher and I are still friends 12 years later!

In some cases, yes. In other cases, no. I know sometimes a staff meeting or something else might keep a teacher.an hour (or two or three) past normal contract time. In that case they might still go to their classroom and call from there at 5pm. Other teachers might call from a personal number. That is not something I'd advise but each teacher decides for themselves.

One thing I'm curious about is whether the parents have the teacher's home phone number - if the teacher is phoning kids outside of school hours, they could get their home number.

I'd absolutely hate that - they're at school all day, and are often doing prep work or marking in the evening or on weekends. Being on call outside of school hours for any parent who wants to phone and ask questions sounds horrible, particularly for what they tend to pay teachers.

When my dh has to make calls from home at night, he can make the call so that the receiver only sees the caller id as blocked - we have also taken steps to make sure that our home phone number, as well as our cell phone numbers, are listed under my name only. It isn't 100% - if someone wants to, they can find his number, but we aren't going to make it easy for his students and their parents. We had to take these steps after one of his students was able to get our number, with the help of an older sibling and the internet and he started to prank call us. As the spouse of a teacher, I put up with a lot of family time taken over by my husband's job, but I drew the line at that.

Logged

"The test of good manners is to be patient with bad ones" - Solomon ibn Gabirol

One thing I'm curious about is whether the parents have the teacher's home phone number - if the teacher is phoning kids outside of school hours, they could get their home number.

Personal home numbers are not provided. You deal with things during school hours through the school phones. If they call from home, they probably have their number blocked, but yes, it's possible it shows up on caller ID. You don't typically have home numbers. You deal with things during school hours. Teachers are going to protect their home life like anyone else. They are not on-call 24/7.